, 1887-12-08
IN A BIG BAKERY.
AN INOUISITIVE REPORTER SPENDS
ANIGHT WITH THE PROPRIETOR.

8N@ |N fAAA
Establishment-NIanufacturo and Dis
tribution-sponge, Dough and Flour.
A disorderly crowd of men, women and
children swayed in front of a bakery on
East Seventy-ffth street the other after
noon. Nearly all carried covered baskets
on their arms. Occasionally a little fell
low received a blow over the head from a
basket for crowdinG some one older than
himself.
When questioned concerning the cause
of the excitement the proprietor said: 1--WE
supply almost every restaurant in the city
with fresh baked bread. All that Is left
over from the preceding day we take back
and give a fresh loaf in exchange. When
il is returned to the bakery we sell 1t to
these poor people at three cents a loaf. It
is really more wholesome than when fresh
from the oven and sold at eight cents n
loaf. The stale bread is always In de-
mand, and we sometimes see lively scenes
around here when the supply is short"
The proprietor then invited the reporter
to spend n night with him in the bakery.
He led the way through aislos of loaf bread
piled six feet high. There were all kinds
of bread in these piles, from the long vi
emma and long French baseball bats to the
chubby loaf of rye.
I'VE make thirty two different kinds
and styles of bread, and ten different
styles of rolls said he. ''They are baked
in six huge ovens, having a capacity of
10000 paw au hour Our reel oven Is
the largest and only one Of its kind in the
country. 1t is two stories high and about
thirty feet square. 1t contains a large
turbine wheel, on which the kneaded
dough is placed. AS the wheel ~revolves
the bread remain upright. Twelve hun
dred loaves are baked in this huge oven
every forty 1--WE minutes"
In the basement of the bakery clouds OF
flour dust nearly choked the spectator.
The forms of busy men, arrayed in white,
could be seen through It. Over the long
troughs the workmen were leaning, dash
ing the 1our to and fro, and mixing the
dry with the wet flour until all in the
trough was pure dough. Caldrons Of fer
ment stood ready to make stock yeast.
Sponge into dough was converted and the
loaf was ready to bake.
After being baked the loayes were piled
in such n manner that they could be easily
countod by two men who began work at
9p. m. and worked all night. These men
I'LL the orders Of the drivers, who deliver
to the customers early in the morning.
At IL p. IN. the men were re enforced
by ten more bakers. The rapidity with
which flour was changed Into dough was
surprising. Barrel after barrel was turned
into the long troughs and quickly handed
over 70 luO men III llb ONtly WHO ItOk
charge Of it until 1t was ready for baking.
Each of the forty men in the establish
meut works eleven hours only. Some
work during the day ono week and at
night the following week. Bench men
are paid Sl4 per week and oven men SIT
per week. The place Is never idle and
the fires arc never drawn. Nothing short
Of an earthquake could check the current
Of the staff OF life which flow from the
bakery
About forty-hve barrels OF fiour are
used daily. The empty barrels are headed
up and sold TO coOpers for 20 cents apiece.
''Ovcr $500 loaves of rye bread n day
are baked here" said the proprietor. at
took two years Of experimenting to pro-
duce the riZlIt favored rye bread, but to-
day we make the handsomest fifteen inch,
two pound loaf you ever laid YOU eyes
upon"
do you supply families" asked the
writer.
Not directly" was the reply. ''Fami-
lies now buy their bread from grocery
stores, and We supply the grocer. There
is no money supplying families direct, and
the bakers who nave tried it have failed.
Our wagons carry from 500 to 800 loaves
II trip, which they deliver inside Of two
hours. 1t would take II day and a half to
deliver that number at private houses"
"Wha is your head yeast or ferment,"
asked the writer.
''Itead yeast is the source from which
ferment is obtained for making stock
yeast. TIL ingredients of head yeast are
hops and malt and water and flou These
are the only ingredients we use, although
some use porter and sugar instead of malt.
Great care IS taken in the making OF yeast,
and none but the oldest and best glutin-
Gus flour ought to be used. Weak fiour
would produce feeble yeast, and unsatis-
factory bread would be the result.
''Stock yeast is so called, " he continued,
''because it is the stock or supply of yeast
used in making the sponge. 1t is simply
a continuation Of the ferment. Potato fer
ment is also used by US. Its ingredients
are flour, water, head yeast and potatoes.
Tn bread made with it will not dry out
as quickly as bread made with yeast.
Bread ordinarily weighs fve-sixteenths
heavier than the flour it contains, the ex-
cess being water.
The PONCE is a mixture Of -four,
water and II fermenting substance OF some
kind. When mixed with the dough It
ferments the entire mass, rendering It
porous, spongy and elastic. Sponge is
also made to test the fermenting quality
of the yeast without using all the flour. To
make the dough you work the sponge with
such quantities Of fiour, water and salt as
will give the proper consistency to the
baked bread. 1.-THE dough is too thin the
gas will escape too rapidly, the raising
will subside too early and the bread will
be damp, heavy and sour to taste and
smell. If the dough is too dry-that is,
If too little water has been used-the fer
mentation will be slow. II too slow It
may turn our
Every kind of four requires treat
ment peculiar to itself to give the best re-
suits. We often waste large quantities of
1t in experimenting. The very best quail
ties OF flour often fail TO make good bread
when insuficieutly kneaded, because the
water is too SLOW TO combine with 1t.
Other fours, whether kneaded much or
little, will absorb water, make a strong
dough and produce n strong bread. -
New York Evening Sun.
Run of the ''Racy" Novels.